Was There Always Only One Steed?
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Dr Keel Steed (1961)

Although we don't have the materials necessary to properly evaluate Steed during the Ian Hendry season, since unfortunately just only one of the 26 episodes is available, we can however outline some highlights.

The character Patrick Macnee played throughout 1961 lacked definition, though as the season progressed, Steed's appearance would move from the mysterious and ill-defined to something much nearer the Steed who we would soon come to know and love.

However, two crucial factors have to be considered at this point: in the first place Steed wasn't the main character of the series at this time. Basically it was a show for Hendry, sustained, according to Patrick, by the abilities and the creativity of their mentor Sydney Newman, the directors, the designers, and most particularly, of Hendry himself. Patrick said Hendry was "an innovator, a wonderful artistic influence, a great and talented man." He adds: "With Ian Hendry I never did anything consciously. I just simply played it as myself." Nevertheless he puts a special emphasis on the originality of the Hendry season episodes. Second, it's perhaps obvious to point out that being a male pairing, the so-called kinky factor which would be the main standard of the series after Hendry's departure, was completely absent during that first year.

Two attributes were granted to Steed during that first Hendry season (although we can't see them now as they aren't shown in "The Frighteners," the only available existing episode from that year); yet, both were visible frequently during the following season, as well: the introduction of a bizarre superior (code named "One-Ten"), as well as his love for the pet dogs that lived with him in his apartment. We'll take care of them in the next section.

Newman summed up the main hallmarks of the two male characters, "Hendry, the moral innocent" (Dr. Keel) and "Macnee, the amoral sophisticate" (Steed). Another good description of the two characters is found in Dave Rogers' book "The Complete Avengers": "Steed is the professional undercover man. He is suave, debonair, a 'man-about-town'. A sophisticate but not lacking in virility... (...)... He has an eye for the beautiful and unusual—be it objets d'art or women... (...)... He is an expert at his job, but not perfect...(...)... His motives are not necessarily as 'moral' as Keel's. To him, the success of the mission is the only important thing and therefore his means may sometimes be questionable. The success of the mission, however, is 'a wrong put right' and therefore sometimes necessitates these means being used to this end."